International Space Station

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International Space Station

Photograph courtesy NASA

This view of the International Space Station over a blue-and-white Earth was taken shortly after the space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the orbital outpost on September 17, 2006. During its six days on the space station, the Atlantis crew installed a pair of 240-foot (73-meter) solar wings, attached to a 17.5-ton section of truss with batteries, electronics, and a giant rotating joint. The new solar arrays were designed to double the station's onboard power.